Out of those notables, only Mike Dentale managed to make the money. He held on all the way to the final table, finishing 8th for $4,364.

The eventual winner, Manh Nguyen, appeared on the leader-board early on day one, about seven hours into play. He fell back into the pack after the dinner break and finished day one 8th out of 26 remaining players.

On day two, Manh continued to lurk in the field until they reached the final table and were down to only seven players. He then went on a heater and busted all six of his remaining opponents.

Manh has been playing poker, at least part-time, for about 8 years. He used to be a poker dealer back home in Pittsburgh, PA, but he gave that up to be a full-time pro this year. He also took up tournaments this year and finds that he's having much better success in tournaments than he had in the cash games.